Stop Flirting with the Talent
by elanev91
Summary: Prompt: Lily as a stage performer of some sort, actress, ballet dancer, opera, musical etc. Debuts in her first show, where she has to cover her face/wear a mask the whole performance and no one knows who she is. She becomes a hit and is the critics golden child and james/marauders snag an exclusive tv/youtube interview for the first time ever with her. Thanks tumblr anon xx (smut)


**Thanks goes out to the Tumblr anon that suggested this - let's be friends, anon.**

 **Prompt:** _Lily as a stage performer of some sort, actress, ballet dancer, opera, musical etc. Debuts in her first show, where she has to cover her face/wear a mask the whole performance and no one knows who she is. She becomes a hit and is the critics golden child and james/marauders snag an exclusive tv/youtube interview for the first time ever with her. Please paint me a picture, jack?_

 **Lily is playing the role of Mouth in Beckett's** _ **Not I**_ **\- Lily's role is drawn from Lisa Dwan's real performance in the same play (Dwan performed in 2003 at the Royal Court Theatre, I've moved this up a decade because creative license means I can do whatever I want). She performed the monologue in 9min 50sec, the fastest that it has ever been performed (and she can do it even** _ **faster**_ **now), and is just a fucking badass. That, alone, is enough reason to inspire my Lily.**

 **For those of you that don't know (I don't know why you would because I don't know why** _ **I**_ **do) or are sitting there like "Really, how could a theatrical role be badass," this is an** _ **incredibly**_ **taxing role. I definitely encourage you to read up on it (there is also a performance online somewhere if you're so inclined - it's really, really intense, though so… be in the right state of mind if you're going to, yeah? And I guess a TW while we're at it because I do describe the performance conditions). Also, I could have changed the names of some of the other actors to keep it universe characters only, but I didn't - Billie Whitelaw deserves all the god damned respect in the world, even if she is only running around with these loons.**

 **(Also, oops I wrote some smut)**

* * *

"We got _Evans?!_ Lily fucking Evans?!"

James was jumping up and down on the spot in Remus' office, his hair bouncing on top of his head, his hands trembling with excitement. He'd wanted to get Evans on the programme since _Not I_ premiered at the Royal Court two weeks ago, but she hadn't been ready to give interviews, and the more and more press the performance got, the more nervous James became. He wanted to get this interview, he wanted to meet this brilliant fucking performer, he'd wanted to get it first, but then realised he'd probably just have to settle for being put into the rotation at all, but then _Remus._ Bloody fucking Remus came through as he always did and James wanted to squeeze him to death he was so happy.

Remus just stared at James, his eyebrows raised in amusement, kicked his feet up onto his desk, "Whenever you're ready to relax, I'm ready to give you details."

James stopped jumping, but his hands were still shaking. He clasped them together behind his back to keep Remus from noticing (Remus had anyway). He took a deep breath, "Alright, details, please."

His voice was still trembling a bit, but Remus took pity on him ( _poor excited bastard_ ). He sighed, picked a folder up off his desk and handed it to James, "Her agent, Marlene McKinnon - "

" _McKinnon_ is her agent? Damn, I'm surprised we ever - " Remus raised a stern eyebrow and James fell silent again. Remus cleared his throat, "Anyway, McKinnon felt that it was time that Evans start making the rounds. She'd wanted her to do it before the show, but Evans was hesitant - "

"I'm not surprised, I mean, taking on this role fifty years after it premiered in - "

Remus shot him a look this time, and James hastily mumbled out an apology, "Sorry, I'm just excited."

Remus sighed, smiled wryly at James, "I know, that's why I wanted to wait until you'd stopped fangirling. I actually like completing my sentences."

James grinned, stuffed a hand into his hair, "Sorry, mate, continue."

"Anyway, Evans was hesitant to do the media circuit before she put on the show, didn't want to put the cart before the horse I guess. Well, now that it's a complete fucking success," James opened his mouth like he was going to interrupt, but closed it when Remus raised his eyebrow again, "she's ready to talk to some reporters. You know that McKinnon and I go way back, so I pulled some strings, and she agreed to let _you_ be the first to interview, assuming Evans is alright with it. McKinnon is taking the paperwork over to Evans now, and is going to email it all over as soon as she gets back in the office this afternoon."

"Holy shit," James breathed, his hand jumped to his hair again, "I - Fuck, Remus, mate, thank you!"

Remus just grinned, "Remember that the next time you and Sirius make fun of me for playing ultimate in uni. It's where McKinnon and I met."

James pressed his lips together, barely suppressed a smile, "I - I would never make fun of you for - It's all Sirius - " a small laugh escaped his lips, and Remus snorted, threw a pen at his head, "Get the fuck out of my office, Potter."

* * *

Lily scooped her tea bag out of her mug, set it on the dish on the countertop by the hob, moved the mobile in her hand to her other ear, "What programme is this again?"

She opened the fridge, grabbed the quart of milk and dropped a splash into her mug while Marlene talked away in her ear, " _Britain Tonight_ with James Potter. He's a bloke that I, apparently, went to uni with. I know the producer and I agreed that, as long as it's alright with you, I'd let them get the exclusive now that you're down to give interviews."

Lily slid the milk back into the fridge, grabbed a spoon out of the drawer, stirred her tea, and took a long drag, "Oh, is that the one on ITV?"

She could practically feel Marlene nodding through the phone, "The very same. What do you think?"

Lily hummed, took another sip of her tea, "I've only seen the show once or twice, but he seems nice, like it would be a relatively easy interview - "

Marlene snorted into the phone, "They're all going to be easy interviews, Lily, you're getting rave reviews."

Lily brushed her hair back from her face, leaned up against the countertop, "I know, but I'm not used to the interview circuit or whatever so I'm just nervous."

"No, no, I know," Marlene said, and Lily heard her shift the phone between her hands and the ambient noise got a bit louder, "but I wouldn't be putting you out there if I didn't think you were ready."

Lily sighed, "I know - "

"And," Marlene continued, Lily could hear her heels clicking across the tile of her office floors, "this programme is really nothing to worry about. When I mentioned to Remus that he had the go-ahead pending your consent, he was practically eating out of the palm of my hand. I'm pretty sure we could get them to do anything, so whatever you need to feel more comfortable - "

"No," Lily pushed off the counter, started pacing back and forth, took another sip of her tea, "I'm comfortable, just a bit nervous. I haven't exactly been in the spotlight before, this is just new."

Lily heard a ding over the phone as Marlene laughed, "The star actress in a hit theatre production isn't used to the spotlight."

She was echoing a bit now and it sounded quieter. Lily could have responded to her sass, but she decided to change the subject, "Are you in the lift?"

"Yeah, why?"

Lily shrugged even though she knew Marlene couldn't see, "Just wondering. Where are you going?"

"To yours actually - assuming you're home? I've got some paperwork I need you to sign."

"Oh, you're only coming over for the paperwork now?"

Marlene snorted into the phone and the ambient noise increased tenfold - she must have stepped out onto the street, "Paperwork and biscuits, Evans, you know those are the only reason I come all the way out to East London."

Lily rolled her eyes, "East London is lovely - "

"Yeah, save it, Evans," Marlene said, laughing, "We all know that you just like it because it reminds you of that dump you lived in in New York."

"First of all - "

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, Evans, I'll be there in thirty, you can tell me then, yeah?"

Lily rolled her eyes, "Alright, see you then."

Marlene clicked off and Lily walked back out into the sitting room, collapsed onto the couch, and clicked on the telly. It was the middle of the day and she couldn't imagine that there would be much on, but she was sure that she would find something. Sure enough, she found an old episode of Death in Paradise, and kicked her feet up to finish drinking her tea while she waited for Marlene to arrive.

When Marlene banged on her door a half an hour later, Lily was halfway through a packet of gingernuts and drinking her third cuppa tea. She pushed herself up off the sofa and padded up the corridor, opened the door, "Hey Mar."

Marlene grinned, pressed a kiss to Lily's cheek, "Wotcher, Lils. Here are the papers," she handed Lily a folder and walked past her into the sitting room. Lily shut the door, began flicking through the paperwork while Marlene sat on the couch, grabbed the packet of gingernuts, and shoved a biscuit into her mouth.

"Just the standard stuff," Marlene said, "when you'll appear, what kind of prep you need, cancellation provisions, that sort of thing."

Lily hummed, "Can I get you a cuppa tea?"

Marlene grinned, "Sure." Lily walked into the kitchen and set the kettle on, grabbed a pen out of the drawer near the sink, and began reading through the paperwork. When she walked back out into the sitting room a few minutes later, Marlene grinned at her, "Thanks," she accepted the mug of tea and nodded towards the folder in Lily's hand, "Does that all look in order?"

Lily shrugged, "I guess? I don't really know what I'm looking for in these kinds of things."

Marlene nodded, took a sip of her tea, "Well, most of this stuff was already in your performance contract - the promotional shit that we've already gone through. This isn't a contract, per se - I just want to make sure that we're all on the same page."

"So, I'll be going on," Lily flicked back to the first page in the folder, "next Tuesday?"

Marlene nodded, "Assuming that's enough time for you to get prepared?"

Lily shrugged, "I do a fairly gruelling performance dozens of times a week - I'm fairly sure I can handle an interview."

Marlene smirked, "That's my girl. Anyway, it's the only time that we could fit it in around your performance schedule. We could have gone on tomorrow, but Remus wants time to advertise."

Lily raised her eyebrows, "They're _that_ excited about this?"

Marlene took a sip of her tea, "You're going to be a legend, Evans. And," she smirked, "apparently James Potter is something of a theatre nerd, so he's going to be really chatting it up."

Lily snorted, "Christ, really?"

Marlene nodded, "Yeah. He's fit in person, too. In case you were curious."

Lily sighed, rolled her eyes, "No, _mum,_ I'm not curious. But good to know, I suppose."

Marlene just grinned, "We'll see how you feel after next Tuesday, yeah?"

Lily grabbed a gingernut out of the package on the table, took a bite, "Whatever, McKinnon."

* * *

James hovered outside of Remus' office all afternoon. He found excuses to wander in and talk to him ("Do you think this tie or this tie goes better with this shirt? Oh, by the way, heard back about that paperwork?") and, by five o'clock (an hour and a half before they went on air) James had abandoned all pretence and had taken to sitting directly behind Remus while he hammered out a few last minute emails.

"Mary is going to cut your fucking nuts off if you don't get down to hair and makeup," Remus said, not bothering to turn around.

James laughed, leaned back in his chair and ran a casual hand through his hair, "Mary loves me, mate, you know that."

Remus just shook his head, continued typing out an email, "Your fucking funeral."

Remus' phone rang and James jumped out of his seat, "Do you think that's McKinnon?!"

Remus pinched the bridge of his nose, took a deep, steadying breath, leaned across the desk, and grabbed his phone, "Lupin."

His face changed instantly, melted into a soft smile, and when he spoke it wasn't in his usual clipped business tone, but a light, jovial voice that was reserved for one person, "Hey, Sirius, what's up, love?"

James groaned dramatically, "Ugh, I don't want to listen to you two being in love."

Remus sighed, "Hold on, Sirius," he turned around and pointed at the door, "Get the fuck out, James."

"But - "

Remus just pointed at the door again, "Good _bye_ , James. Hair and makeup." James opened his mouth to protest, but Remus was having none of it, " _Now._ "

James sighed, "Fine," and he climbed out of the chair, walked across the office.

Remus adjusted the phone, "Sorry, James is just being mad again."

James shot Remus a look (Remus, the bastard, just blew him a kiss), and James walked through the door, pulled it shut behind him.

That evening's show went off, as they _usually_ did, without any major hitch. Mary had only mildly threatened him for leaving hair and makeup until the last minute, and Remus only unleashed a light smattering of swears over James' earpiece once he got mic'd up.

When James let Alice take over for her sport report, Remus clicked into James' ear - "Got the paperwork - she'll be here next Tuesday. Make sure to mention it at the bottom, yeah?"

James was sure that Remus waited until he was about to be back on air so that he couldn't jump around and celebrate like a moron. As it was, he was smiling like a fool when the camera turned back to him, and he had to hastily suppress his grin while he delivered the rest of his news report. He managed to get through the rest of the programme without bursting into ecstatic tears, but he might have given himself away (a bit) when he dropped the preview at the end of the show.

"And I'm happy to announce that, next week, we'll get an _exclusive_ with Lily Evans, the sole performer in Samuel Beckett's _Not I,_ back at the Royal Court Theatre for the first time in fifty years. _Britain Tonight_ has secured her _first_ interview, so make sure that you tune in Tuesday night at 6:30," James' hands were trembling just a bit on the news desk and he clasped them together, softened his smile (after Remus' very helpful note of "You're smiling like fucking madman, mate"), "And from all of us here at _Britain Tonight,_ good evening."

As soon as the red light clicked off on the camera, James started blabbering into his mic, "Holy fuck, Remus, HOLY FUCK, I can't believe you really got it, you really, really, fucking got it!"

Remus laughed over his headset, "Of course I got it, you prat, it's me we're talking about."

James rolled his eyes up at the control booth, "You've been with Sirius too long. You're starting to get cocky."

Remus snorted and James groaned, "Shut up, Lupin."

Remus laughed, "You walked right into that one, mate."

Remus (and Sirius) spent the rest of the week taking the piss out of James whenever humanly possible. When Sirius came to lunch at the studio on Friday, he was absolutely relentless.

"You sure you're going to be able to keep it together on set, mate?" Sirius quirked an amused eyebrow, took a bite of his sandwich, and James scoffed, "I'm a professional, Sirius."

Remus snorted and James shot him a look, "Oh, am I _not_ a professional now?"

Remus just grinned, "I'm just saying, you've been more on edge this week then you have been in a long time."

"And you should see yourself doing those promos, mate," Sirius said, "You look fit to burst the whole fucking time you're on camera."

Remus laughed, choked on the bite of wrap he was eating, which of course set Sirius laughing. James just scowled at them both, "I hope you both choke to death. I won't dial 999, either, you'll die right here in a fucking cafe."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Please, like I'm going to die because I _choked_ on something."

James groaned, "Dear god, I'm trying to eat."

Sirius just grinned, leaned over and pressed a kiss to the corner of Remus' mouth, "What can I say, we're still in our newlywed phase."

James scoffed, "You've been married for two years."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Semantics."

" _Anyway,_ " James said, "my promos have been spectacular, let's stop pretending otherwise."

Remus smiled, patted James' hand, "Of course they were, darling."

James rolled his eyes, "Don't 'darling' me."

Sirius sighed, rested his head on Remus' shoulder, "On air talent is so needy these days."

James balled up a napkin and threw it at Sirius' head.

Sirius laughed, held his fingers up at James, popped a crisp into his mouth, "Honestly, though, mate," he sat up, ate another crisp, "how can you be _this_ fucking excited? What do you even know about her?"

James sighed a bit wistfully and he saw Sirius shoot Remus an amused look, "She's bringing this role back to the theatre it premiered in when it first came to the UK, _she was tutored by Billie Whitelaw,_ and this is an insanely difficult role, like so, so fucking difficult, and she did it in the fastest time that it's ever been done which I can't even fucking believe because how in the hell did she do that in less than ten minutes and I heard she keeps getting faster and I'm just - ahhh - I mean, come on, you know how much I - "

James was well aware that he was rambling, but he couldn't help himself. Sirius shoved a handful of crisps into his mouth, "You're a fucking loser, we know."

"I'm not - ugh, you're just - "

Sirius raised his eyebrows and James groaned, stuffed another huge bite of sandwich into his mouth, "Shut the fuck up."

Sirius grinned, "When's she coming on?"

James shot him a look, "You know when, you're just trying to get me to freak out again."

Sirius laughed, "Shit, yeah."

James threw another napkin at him.

"Alright, you lot," Sirius pushed himself to his feet, "I've got to the get back to the workshop. I'll see you," he bent over, kissed Remus, "at home. And you," he reached over and rumpled up James' hair, "on the telly."

Remus watched Sirius go (Sirius, cheeky bastard, knew it, and flipped his hair dramatically on the turn towards the stairs), and James shoved another huge bite of sandwich into his mouth.

"What do you see in him exactly?"

Remus finally turned back towards James, "Don't try and pawn him off on me. He was your brother before he and I even became a thing."

James groaned, "Shut up, Lupin."

Remus just grinned.

* * *

When Lily arrived at the news building early Tuesday afternoon, she was glad that she'd decided to get there really, really early. The building was _massive_ and she was fairly certain that there was no way in hell she was actually going to be able to navigate the thing without looking like a moron. She also hoped to _god_ there was a lift because climbing stairs in these heels was _not_ happening.

She adjusted her bag on her arm, rolled her shoulder (it was still sore from when she'd injured it in rehearsal a month ago), walked through the huge glass doors in the front of the building. She wandered over into the corner near reception, took out her mobile, and texted Marlene.

 _What floor again? xx_

Marlene texted back almost immediately - _Sixth. Go to the front desk and check in - you need a stage pass._

Lily got her stage pass, tucked it into the outside pocket of her bag, and walked over to the glass lifts, pulled her mobile out again while she waited for the lift to arrive. She texted Marlene again - _How are they going to know that I'm really me? This is the first public interview I've ever given. I don't even think there are any pictures of me on the internet outside of my personal accounts._

Again, Marlene's reply was instantaneous - _No one is going to pretend to be you, Evans. You're not that important. YET xxxx_

Lily snorted, stuffed her mobile back into her bag. She stuck her hands into her back pockets, rocked up onto her toes before falling back down onto her heels. The lift dinged and she pulled her hands back to her sides. The doors opened and she stepped back, let a few people walk out - she straightened up, walked into the lift, and pressed the button for the sixth floor.

She squared her shoulders, cringed a little at the twinge in her left shoulder, pushed her hair back out of her eyes. The doors had just started to shut when she heard, "Can you hold the lift?!"

She stepped forward, thrust her hand between the doors, and they slid back open. A tall, black haired man stumbled into the lift and beamed at her, "Thanks."

She let her eyes move over him quickly while he checked the panel and stepped to the back of the lift without hitting any buttons. His hair was standing up on top of his head, probably because he couldn't seem to keep his hands out of it, he was wearing black and wire rimmed glasses, and he was the kind of handsome that is just _not_ okay. _Shit. Shit. Shit._

She smiled back, "Of course."

He started, "Ireland?"

She laughed, nodded, "Carlow."

He beamed, "My best mate is from Dublin."

Lily grinned, "Oh my god, really? Where from?"

He ran his hand through his hair again, "Killester."

Lily nodded knowingly, "Lovely up there now. How did - "

The lift stopped, the doors slid open, and he gestured in front of him to indicate that she could walk out first. Lily smiled, "Thanks," and walked out of lift towards the welcome desk immediately opposite. Lily turned a bit at the welcome counter, watched him walk swiftly through the corridor towards the double doors at the other end of the building. He pulled a mobile out of his pocket and started typing frantically away on the screen, his head dipping a little in concentration. He turned just before he reached the doors, looked at her over his shoulder, and when his eyes met hers he beamed, lifted his hand in a wave, before he turned and strode through the doors.

Lily sighed, brushed hair out of her eyes, smiled at the man behind the welcome desk, "I'm looking for the _Britain Tonight_ set? I have," she pulled her pass out of the outside pocket of her bag, "this pass if you need it."

The man looked at her pass briefly before he smiled at her, "Of course, Ms Evans. I have a note here from Mr Lupin, the producer, that he'll be picking you up. If you'd like to take a seat," he gestured to the set of cushy black arm chairs near the lift behind them, "I'll call him and let him know you've arrived."

Lily flushed a bit ( _Ms Evans, my god_ ), "Of course, thank you."

Lily sat down in the armchair facing the double doors the fit bloke from the lift had gone through, hoped that whoever was picking her up would come through there. But, of course, no such luck.

She was reading the news on her mobile when she heard a voice from beside her, "Ms Evans?"

She jumped, spun in her chair, and looked up (and up some more) at the tall, sandy haired Irishman standing next to her. She hopped up out of her chair, turned to face him (bastard was still like half a fucking metre taller than her or something), grinned, "Lily, please." She stuck out her hand and he shook it briefly, "Remus Lupin, I'm the producer for _Britain Tonight."_

It was out of her mouth before she could stop herself, "Do you know that fit bloke from the lift?"

Remus quirked an eyebrow at her, "I'm sorry?"

Lily flushed a brilliant red, "Nothing. Where are you from in Ireland?"

Remus grinned, turned on his heel and waited for her to walk out from between the chairs, began leading her down the corridor towards the double doors, "Killester. I moved here for uni a little over a decade ago, decided to stay once I got this post. Now I'm married to an Englishman and I don't think I'll ever be going back."

Lily grinned, "Well, as long as you make him visit. Drink a proper pint and all that."

Remus laughed, pushed open the doors, and held it so Lily could walk through behind him, "We go every year."

It was darker in the corridor back here, but Lily could see the bright stage lights set up all around the set in front of her. Remus led her into a small room just down the corridor and to the left, pushed open the door and let her walk inside. It was a cosy dressing room, a couch on one side and a lighted vanity on the other, a small television in the corner, and a fridge with a basket of snacks on top ( _Yes please I'm fucking starving_ ). Remus smiled warmly when her eyes found his again, "So I've got your paperwork here from McKinnon, tell her I said hello, by the way, but I just wanted to check in and see if there was anything else you needed?"

 _The name of the bloke from the lift that is apparently your best mate._ "No, I don't think so."

Remus beamed, "Great. The questions James will be asking you are right there on the table so you can flick through those if you like, the television gets all our channels and other ones assuming you hate our network," he smiled impishly and Lily grinned, "the snacks are yours, so please eat whatever. James will be by around 430ish to run over a few things, get introduced, that sort of thing. And I'll send Mary in from hair and makeup in," Remus checked his watch, "an hour."

Lily sighed, a bit relieved, "Thank you, Remus."

He smiled, "Of course. If you need me, just pick up that phone and it will ring right into my office. I'll be sitting in there going over some things, so you'll definitely be able to reach me."

Remus walked out of the dressing room, pulled the door shut quietly behind him, and Lily flopped down onto the couch.

 _You should have asked about his mate. Fucking coward._

She groaned, picked up the packet of questions, and started reading.

A little while later (she was immersed in an absolutely _ridiculous_ episode of this Real Housewives show that she would swear up and down that she never watches unless she has no other options) there were a few quick raps on the door. She fumbled with the remote as she checked the clock ( _Shit, 430 on the fucking dot_ ), but it was too late. The man that is apparently James Potter was already in her dressing room and he's already seen the rubbish television programme she was watching and he's… the bloke from the lift.

He stopped dead in the doorway, his hand jumped into his hair, and he shifted his weight nervously onto his right leg, "I - "

She jumped up, threw the remote onto the couch behind her, and walked over to him, hand extended, "Lily Evans. Nice to see you again, Mr Potter."

James snorted, shook her hand, "James, please. Nice to actually get your name this time." He smiled warmly at her and she wasn't sure how it was possible, but her heart definitely came to a dead halt and started running at double time in her chest all at once.

She dropped his hand, stuffed her hands into her back pockets to keep from doing anything stupid (like wrapping her arms round his neck and just bloody snogging him), "So, Remus said you wanted to go over some things?"

James' hand jumped to his hair again, his other gestured towards the couch, "Please," she sat and James followed her, sitting down on the edge of the sofa. She smiled expectantly at him and he let out a shaky laugh, "I just like to stop by, say hi, chat for a bit to get to know the people I'm interviewing, talk about the questions beforehand… makes the whole on-air bit less awkward, you know?"

Lily shrugged, "I've never done this before, so I'll have to take your word for it."

James titled his head, "I was wondering about that. We couldn't find pictures of you _anywhere_ on the internet - you're mentioned in a few smaller pieces but - "

Lily laughed, "Price you pay for doing small-scale, experimental European theatre I suppose."

James grinned, "I suppose. Anyway, I would have liked to have known earlier, I might have properly introduced myself."

LIly quirked her eyebrow, "Might have?"

James flushed and Lily just laughed, "And anyway, you're the one on the telly every night and I apparently couldn't be arsed to look you up before I came here, so…" she trailed off, raised a challenging eyebrow.

He shook his head, "I can't believe you'd have to _look me up._ My poor heart," he clutched at his heart dramatically and she snorted, ignored the thrill in her gut at his willingness to play along, "Something tells me your heart will be just fine."

He sighed, "You don't know how sensitive I am, Evans. I have a very fragile ego."

She laughed loudly now, "Stupid git," smacked him on the shoulder before she realised that maybe hitting someone you don't know isn't the best course of action. She flushed, opened her mouth to apologise, but he was already laughing, his hand back in his hair as he smiled over at her, "How have you figured me out already, Evans?"

She grinned, "You're just that obvious."

He clutched at his heart again, "And here I thought I was an impressive international man of mystery."

Lily bit her lip in an effort to contain her wry smile, "Oh, my mistake. Absolutely. How could I have been so blind?"

He laughed, "I reckon you could give me a run for my money, Evans."

She grinned, "You bet your arse, Potter."

He studied her for a moment, his eyes moving slowly over her face, before he bit the corner of his lip, sighed, "We better get to work or Remus is going to kill us."

Lily laughed, leaned back on the couch, "Kill _you._ I'm the guest, he can't kill me."

James laughed, leaned back as well, "Well, help a bloke out."

Lily pretended to think for a moment before she shrugged, "Eh, I think I could do without you."

James reached over, shoved her elbow and laughed, "You absolutely could not."

"You seem a bit too confident on that score."

He gestured down at himself, "Have you seen me?"

She snorted, "Ugh, god, I'll work if it will get you to shut up."

James grinned, reached into his suit jacket and grabbed out a folded packet of papers, "Works every time."

She rolled her eyes, but leaned forward, grabbed her packet off the table, "Alright, let's get to work, Potter."

They went over the questions he'd listed out on the paper, took her edits ("I don't really want to talk about my family too much, if that's alright" - surprisingly, he let it drop), gave her a quick overview of what the segment would look like.

"You'll be mic'd, obviously, and Remus will tell you when to go up on set. Just sit on the couch on the left," he gestured in front of him with his left hand, "and I'll be on set at the desk," he moved his right hand in the air just to the left of the fake sofa. "You just sit there, I'll come to you."

She nodded, "Sounds easy enough." It did, but it didn't quell the nervous butterflies starting to take over her stomach.

James grinned, "It is. This is nothing compared to what you're doing in the theatre every night, you can totally handle this." He looked like he was considering something before he reached over, patted her hand before he moved his hand back to his lap.

The butterflies in her stomach now had nothing (well, very little) to do with nerves.

She smiled, "Thanks. I don't know why I'm nervous," she laughed awkwardly, brushed a piece of hair back out of her eyes, "You're right, I'm on stage every night."

He nodded, "It's just new, that's all. You're going to kill it, though. I wouldn't have - " he flushed, fell silent and Lily smiled, sensing an opening, and raised her eyebrow, "You wouldn't have what?"

He dropped his gaze for a moment and Lily saw the colour hit high on his cheeks before he turned back to look at her, "I may or may not have started begging Remus to have you on the show since you premiered. I wouldn't have done that if I didn't think you could do this."

She wanted to laugh because it was just so ridiculous that anyone would have wanted her on their show that desperately, but the look on his face was totally earnest and laughing just didn't seem right. She took a breath, "Why would you want a random theatre actress on your show that desperately?"

James shook his head fervently, "You're not a random theatre actress, you're bloody _brilliant._ The performance you're giving in this show - Evans, I - holy _fuck_ you're so amazing and I really wanted to have you on the show so that we could talk about that. And, honestly, I'm something of a huge theatre nerd, which all my mates fucking take the piss about, but I don't even care because that means that I get to interview the hottest - er, most impressive - performer on the West End right now and I just - "

He was smiling widely, his speech fast, and he was looking at her with such an intensely serious look on his face that she couldn't help but believe him. He stopped abruptly, "I'm rambling, sorry, I just get really, really excited when - "

She grinned, reached over and patted his hand, "I get it. That feeling," she tipped her head at him, "is exactly why I got into theatre."

He smiled, ran a nervous hand through his hair, "I'm glad you don't think I'm a raving nutter or something."

She smirked, "Well, I wouldn't go _that_ far."

James laughed, "Between you, Remus, and Sirius, I swear to christ."

She raised an eyebrow, "Oh?"

James flushed, "Nothing - "

There was a knock on the door behind them and they both jumped slightly. The door opened and a short, black-haired woman poked her head in, "Ms Evans? I'm Mary - you ready for hair and makeup?"

James jumped up off the couch, his hand flew to his hair again, "Sorry, Mary," Mary shot him a glare and James just smiled winningly at her (she sighed) before he turned back to Lily, "Any final questions?"

 _What were you getting at just now? Will you go out with me? Want to fuck on this couch?_

She grinned, "No. Thanks, James."

James smiled broadly, ran a hand through his hair again, "See you out there, Evans." He turned to head back out into the corridor, and Mary smacked his arm, "Stop with the hair! Do you like making my job harder?"

James dropped his arm, smiled at Mary, "I just want to spend more time with you, love," winked at Lily, and disappeared.

Mary shook her head, smiled exasperatedly at Lily, "That man will be the absolute death of me, I swear it."

Lily laughed, stood, and walked over towards the lighted vanity, "He definitely seems… trying."

Mary grinned at her in the mirror as Lily sat down in the chair, "It helps that he's so bloody handsome. It doesn't help that he knows it."

They both laughed, and Mary smiled at her in the mirror, "He's a great man, though," she said, grabbing a brush out of her bag and starting to run it through Lily's hair, "and single. In case you were wondering."

Lily flushed, cleared her throat, "Good to know."

Mary grinned, but thankfully decided to drop it, "So, what look at we going for today?"

After an hour of being poked and painted, Mary finally packed up her things and (with one final "You should let him know you're single") left Lily to gather her thoughts before she was due to go on set.

Remus sent a tech in get her mic'd up, and Remus popped his head in about fifteen minutes before they went on air, "You're the centre slot, so I'm going to need you ready by ten past."

Lily nodded, "Well, I'm ready now - can I stand on set and just watch?"

Remus studied her, an amused look on his face, "Sure. Funnily enough, James had suggested I ask if you'd like to."

Lily quirked her eyebrow, "Oh?"

Remus grinned, "Don't tell him I told you."

Lily crossed herself quickly with a cheeky grin, "Never."

She walked out into the set, caught herself trying to adjust her hair a few times before she remembered that Mary would, without a moment of hesitation, rip her arms off and beat her to death if she messed up her hair. She'd only known Mary for an hour, but there was something distinctly no nonsense about her, something that reminded Lily forcefully of Marlene, and she knew she shouldn't risk it.

She scanned the set as she walked over, trying to figure out where she could stand and be the least annoying. Eventually deciding that standing just inside the set area was probably the best, she leaned with her back pressed against the wall in a spot where she could see James' desk between the huge cameras. He was sitting at the desk rifling through the stack of paper in front of him, a pen cap between his teeth as he scribbled out some notes on the sheet in front of him. He looked up suddenly, his eyes scanning the set, before they met hers, bright amber fire in the set lights. She wasn't sure he could see her, was sure she was standing too far back and he'd be blinded by the set lights, but he raised a hand in greeting (she waved back), and he rumpled up his hair before turning back to his notes.

There's always something fascinating watching someone in their element, watching them become a version of themselves that you aren't always privy to, depending on who you are in their life. He wasn't anything to her, not yet, but watching the way that he clicked on underneath the stage lights, the way his smile evened out as the cameras started broadcasting, the subtle shift in his voice into a slower, steadier register, the way his entire upper body stilled (though she was sure his knee was bouncing wildly under the desk to compensate)... Television James was softer, smoother, almost flatter, except that nothing about James Potter could, in any way, be described as flat. His hair still stood chaotically on top of his head, even on air, his eyes still shone mischievously as he delivered a particularly cheeky (and probably off-script) quip about the Tories, she could still see the left corner of his mouth hitch up just a _bit_ higher than the right, even as he smiled politely to the camera. He was a bit subdued, but there was still something impish about him, and the balance was masterful.

As planned, she heard Remus in her ear telling her it was time about ten minutes into the broadcast. James smiled at her, _beamed,_ from the set, and she walked out ( _one foot in front of the other, Evans_ ), her head held high, towards the couch on the left hand side of the set. He watched her walk over, his eyes tracing her before they snapped back to the camera in front of him, his broad, warm grin transforming _just_ a bit into a more formal, polite smile. James pushed himself to standing, his right hand moved immediately to button his suit jacket, "Our guest tonight is the sole actress in the Royal Court Theatre's 50th anniversary run of Samuel Beckett's _Not I_ , here to talk with us about her performance and her break onto the London theatre scene, Lily Evans."

She took a deep, quiet breath, straightened her back, ignored the mic pack pressing into her spine, squared her shoulders. Performance was vulnerable, _profoundly_ vulnerable, and this was sort of like that. Sort of. But she couldn't wear the mask of a character, couldn't pretend like this, the words coming out of her mouth, the history, the stories, weren't hers. This was _her_ , and she was scared of messing it up, scared of saying the wrong thing or accidentally giving the press some story that would haunt her for the rest of her life.

She was probably being a bit dramatic, but she supposed it came with the territory.

James crossed the set in a few long strides as he spoke, Lily stood to greet him, shook his hand briefly before she resumed her seat. He sat in the armchair to her left, unbuttoned his suit jacket again, and smiled softly. It was somewhere between the warm, off-camera grins she'd gotten earlier and the polite on-camera smiles he'd been throwing out since the start of the broadcast.

"So, Ms Evans - "

"Lily, please," Lily grinned and James smiled back, "Lily. We can talk about your performance in a moment, but I'd like to start by asking about you. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?"

Lily nodded, "Sure. Uh, I'm from Ireland as you know," James chuckled, nodded, and Lily grinned, "I grew up in Carlow, my mum was a teacher, my dad worked in the sugar factory, so we weren't particularly well off, but we were doing better than most. When university came round, I was lucky enough to get a scholarship to attend Juilliard in New York to study drama, and uh, the rest is history I guess."

James grinned, shifted his weight a bit in his seat and leaned forward, "What started your interest in theatre?"

He was studying her intently, his warm hazel eyes trained on hers. Lily bit the corner of her lip before she took a breath, moved her eyes from his long enough to recover her train of thought, "I'd just always _loved_ performing. If my parents were still around, my god, the stories they'd tell. They realised that I really enjoyed it and they got me involved in the County Carlow Youth Theatre while I was still fairly young. It just _took._ Theatre is the greatest love of my life."

James bit the corner of his lip, so slightly she barely noticed it, before he smiled broadly, his eyes moving in sweeping lines over her features, "Tell us more about your time at Juilliard."

She felt the smile filling her face before she even opened her mouth, "Juilliard was one of the greatest experiences of my life. There were only seven other people in my programme that year, and I met some of my best friends there. I loved living in New York - there was an _energy_ about the place. I still miss it sometimes."

James smiled warmly at her, "Did you perform in New York while you were there?"

Lily nodded, "I did some small, avant-garde shows, and, of course, performed in the shows at Juilliard."

"So where did you go when you finished university? You didn't really hit the mainstream radar until this show - what were you doing before _Not I_?"

"I stayed in the experimental scene in New York for a few years before I moved back to Europe and started doing shows on the continent. I moved around a lot, spent some time in France, Italy, Germany, before moving to London last year. My manager, Marlene, found me during my time in France, so we've been together for… almost five years now. I wasn't finding a lot of huge roles, until last year when I got the script from our director."

James smiled, and Lily noticed that the left side of his mouth lifted just a _bit_ higher than the right, nearly bringing back the cheeky, lopsided smile that made her stomach flip, "You're making my job easy, Evans - let's talk about this role. For people who've never heard of it, how would you describe your role in this piece?"

Lily laughed, "And you're _not_ making my job easy." He beamed at her and she just sighed, smiled ruefully at him, "I'm the sole performer, and the only part of me visible to the audience is my mouth. The whole theatre is completely dark, we even take the lights out of the emergency exits, so it's a pretty jarring experience, I think, just seeing a mouth lit up on stage talking as quickly as it can."

"As for the content…" she breathed a laugh, but James just sat quietly, studied her intently while she spoke, "That's a bit harder to describe. It… it reminds me of home in a lot of ways, the little Irish colloquialisms that pop up every now and again, but more than anything it, uh, at the risk of giving too much away about myself, feels intensely personal in a way that I think a lot of people identify with. It's that internal, frantic scream going inside a lot of us and Beckett makes it external. It makes it the most difficult piece I've ever performed."

James nodded, "How does it feel taking something this difficult on?"

Lily couldn't help the stupidly wide smile that spread across her face, "I _love_ it. It was nerve wracking, of course, coming into a role like this with _such_ a superstar predecessor. Billie is… I mean, she's just amazing, and I was worried that I would step into this role and not be able to do her, or Beckett, justice. I worried about that a lot, but," she laughed a bit under her breath, "I also knew they wouldn't have cast me if they didn't have faith in my performance. So I tried to hold onto that."

"Billie Whitelaw, the actress who first performed this role at the Royal Court, was trained by Beckett herself, wasn't she? And now she's tutoring you?"

Lily nodded, took a deep breath, "Yeah, it's a bit mad when you put it like that. Billie has been… I honestly couldn't give the performance the way that I do if I hadn't worked with her. This is, uh… a singularly intense role," they both laughed a bit, James nodded as she continued, "and having someone to talk to, someone who _got it_ was really, really helpful. I don't think she'll ever know just how grateful I am for her help."

"Well a lot of this is your skill, too, let's not get too modest, here."

Lily laughed, "I guess you're right."

James grinned, "You performed the piece in nine minutes and fifty seconds your first night out - that's the fastest it's ever been performed."

Lily grinned, "It was until I broke my own record last week. I did it in nine minutes and twenty seconds. I've done it faster in rehearsal, but I need to work on it with all the performance conditions in play."

"Right, it isn't just the delivery that's difficult about this particular piece, is it?"

"Oh no," Lily laughed brightly, shook her head, and James just grinned, "I'm literally restrained for this role. That took some getting used to."

"Can you expand on that?"

"Because my mouth is the only piece of me that can be visible, I have to be very, very still to ensure that I don't move out of the spotlight during delivery, something that would be really easy to do given the energy of the piece."

"So every night, my head is strapped, literally, into a board, like those things they have at school fêtes. The crew line me up and then strap my head in with this sort of padded cup piece. It's got some padding round the board edge, too, but I've cut myself more times that I care to think about. I also have metal bars that I can sort of wedge my arms behind to keep my body from jumping too much and pulling out of the restraints."

She mimed the motion a bit and James gaped at her, "That's - "

Lily laughed, "Yeah. I actually dislocated my shoulder in rehearsal a few weeks ago."

James blanched, "My god, are you alright?"

Lily shrugged as if to prove a point, "Yes, I'm fine. The shoulder brace made the strapping in a bit more difficult, but the artist in me got stupidly excited that I was _suffering for my art_."

She grinned cheekily and he laughed, "Well unfortunately, we're out of time and we're going to have to leave it on that note. But I want to encourage everyone to get tickets to see the show because it is, truly, stunning."

"Thank you, Lily, for coming on with me today," Lily smiled, nodded, and James beamed before turning his attention back to the camera, "Now, let's do a complete 180 from the theatre and get our Premier League update from Alice. Alice?"

He paused for a moment before his features relaxed and he turned to smile at her, "We've only got thirty, but it really was great having you on. If you'll stick around, I'd like to - "

Lily nodded, stood up, and reached out to shake his hand, "I'll stick around."

She tried to ignore the electricity that shot through her arm when his hand grasped hers (she failed spectacularly). He smiled softly at her before his gaze shifted up to the control booth overhead, "Alright, alright, I'm moving!"

He dropped her hand, stepped back, pointed at his ear, "Remus."

She nodded knowingly, "I figured."

He grinned, walked over and sat down behind the desk, "Alright, see you in fifteen, Evans." She smiled, "Fifteen."

She stepped off the stage, moved to stand back in her corner, and Remus was in her ear again, "Great work, but stop flirting with my talent."

She was thankful she didn't have to reply, because a tech came over and started stripping off her wires.

James delivered the rest of the show with very thinly veiled anticipation in his voice, his eyes darting over to where he knew she was standing whenever the camera was off him long enough that he could get away with it. As soon as the cameras clicked off, he was stripping off his own wires and striding purposefully across the set towards her.

James was beaming when he came to a stop in front of her, "Get dinner with me."

Lily laughed, "Right now?"

James nodded, dug the battery pack off his back, "Right now."

A tech ran over and grabbed the mic from James. Lily raised an eyebrow, "And why should I do that?"

James smirked, "Because I'm devilishly handsome and you can't resist me."

Lily snorted, "Oh, is that so?"

James grinned, "I like to think so."

Lily rolled her eyes, "I'm sure you do."

James still had his eyes trained on hers, "What do you say?"

Lily gave a half shrug, the left side of her mouth hitching up into a small smile, "Sure."

James reached over and took her hand, started walking swiftly through the corridor, "Then let's get out of here, because Remus always likes to have obnoxiously long post meetings and I'm not trying to get caught up in that."

She laughed, pushed open the doors, and doubled her pace to keep up with his stupidly long legs. Remus had just poked his head out into the main lobby as they climbed into the lift, shouted, "Oi," but James had laughed loudly, like a small child, and pressed to down button as many times as he could to get the doors to close.

He turned to her as soon as the lift started moving, practically vibrating with happiness, "I feel like James Bond or something!"

Her _you can't actually be serious_ look did nothing to abate his excitement.

* * *

They ended up at a small, retro gastropub just a few blocks from the news building - James had laughed, "I thought secret agents usually tried to get _away_ from the scene of the crime, Evans," but she'd just smacked his shoulder, told him that it had the best food she knew of in the area and he better shut up about it already because "I'm starving, I'm not trying to get on the Tube right now."

"Plus," she said, pulling open the door and standing back so he could walk inside, "it has a rooftop terrace."

He grinned, "I've always wanted to see the canal in this light." She snorted.

They climbed the stairs up to the terrace, and Lily led them to a table in the far corner overlooking the canal. James laughed, "Stunning view, this."

She elbowed him, "Fuck off, Potter."

His mobile started ringing from his jacket pocket as they sat down, and James laughed, "Bet you ten quid it's Remus."

He pulled his mobile out and snorted, turned the phone around so Lily could see it. "Oh," Lily snatched the mobile out of his hand, answered it and put it to her ear, "Mr Potter's mobile."

Lily did her poshest English accent and James bit his lip to stifle a laugh. Lily grinned broadly and held up her hand, set the mobile on speaker. Remus sounded exasperated on the other end, "James Potter, get your arse back here. We have a meeting."

Lily clicked her tongue, "Mr Potter's schedule is all booked up this evening, I'm afraid."

James waved his hands to get her attention, pointed at the phone then sighed dramatically, pinched the bridge of his nose, mouthed along, unbelievably, with Remus' next words, "I swear to god, James, when I have a heart attack it's all your fault."

Lily's jaw dropped and he flashed her a bright grin, shrugged, leaned forward, "It's like the lady said, Moons, I'm booked solid tonight."

Remus let out another long sigh and James pinched the bridge of his nose again, rolling his eyes at Lily. She bit her knuckle to keep from laughing and he just laughed silently.

"Remus," James said, his tone placating, "brilliant show, I've no notes, you can leave your notes on my desk, and I'll be in tomorrow."

Remus was quiet for a moment before he said, after another heavy sigh, "Can you take me off speaker now?"

James shrugged at her, plucked the phone out of her hand, tapped it and pressed it to his ear. He was quiet for a minute or so, nodding along with whatever Remus was saying. She leaned back in her chair, just watching him. He let his gaze wander a bit around the terrace, out over the canal, before his eyes snapped back to hers, "Yeah, I do…. Believe me, I know," he laughed, "Alright, alright, _Dad,_ christ…. Yeah, yeah, yeah, save the sap for Sirius, yeah?"

James was quiet for another moment, his face became a bit more serious again, "We'll talk about it tomorrow, alright…. Cheers, mate." He clicked the mobile off, stuffed it back into his jacket pocket.

"Is he going to kill you?"

James laughed, "Nah, he's used to it."

"Run away from work with women often?"

James flushed, "No - shit - uh…" she laughed and James ran a nervous hand through his hair, "Never, actually. I just meant that he's used to my nonsense."

"I figured when you repeated him word for word a bit ago."

James laughed a bit, still pink in the cheeks, "Yeah, that's a Remus classic."

The server popped by, took their drink order, dropped off a pair of menus, and they chatted about the food options ("A QUINOA SALAD?! When there's mac and cheese on the menu?! What the _fuck_ is wrong with you?!"). The server came back to their table a few minutes later, two pints in hand, and they placed their food orders (James tried to ignore Lily's murderous stare at having the audacity to actually order said starter salad - "You're not having _any_ of my mac and cheese.").

James took a long drag of his beer, smiled at her, "So, experimental theatre - what do you like about it? What keeps you coming back?"

Lily laughed, "Back in interview mode, are we?"

James took a sip of his pint, "Or maybe I just find you fascinating, Evans."

His eyes burned into hers as he said it, and she took a long drag of her pint, laughed in an attempt to get her bearings, "At the risk of sounding like a complete prat, I like the newness of it. I like how weird it is, how exciting, and bizarre. Shakespeare is fine, you know, mainstream theatre is fine, I'm not knocking it. I would do it, I _have_ done it. I just," James was still studying her and she took another long drink of her pint, "I'm a bit of a restless person, I like a challenge, I like feeling like I'm pushing my own limits, the limits of the audience. Experimental theatre gives that to me."

James studied her over the rim of his glass, "So you're a bit of a daredevil, then?"

Lily laughed, "I don't know that doing edgy theatre makes me a daredevil."

James raised an eyebrow, "You dislocated your shoulder in the middle of rehearsal."

Lily shrugged, "The screams were a lot louder that day, I'll tell you that much."

James gaped at her, "You didn't stop rehearsal?"

She shook her head, took a sip of her beer, "Why would I do that? I was in the middle of a timed run and it was two weeks before opening night."

James just shook his head, amused in spite of himself, took another drink.

They inhaled their starters, the chatted, drank, laughed, tossed food at each other like children once their main courses arrived. They talked about everything, their best mates, uni, food, books, theatre, what gross reality show was the best on television ("I'm surprised you're not making the case for Real Housewives, Evans, after what I saw earlier"). It was surprisingly easy sitting there with James, chatting with him like she'd known him for years instead of a few hours. Feeling this at ease with someone almost always set her on edge, made her think that something, surely, was up… but with James, it was effortless. She'd hadn't even realised it was happening until she was already there.

"So," James said, pouring more vinegar over his chips, "where do you live?"

Lily finished her pint, smiled, "Out in Leytonstone. Why?"

James ignored her question, "That's a hike. Zone Three."

He whistled through his teeth and Lily flicked a bit of chip at him, "I love it out there, so you can shut it. Where do you live?"

James popped a chip into his mouth, "I live over in Belgravia, overlooking Eaton Square."

Lily gaped at him, "What?!"

James shrugged, finished his pint as well, "My parents bought the place after the war, I just inherited it after they died."

"I'm sorry."

James shook his head, "It was a long time ago, it's alright."

"No," Lily said, reaching across the table and taking his hand for a moment, "it isn't."

They were quiet for a moment before she steered the conversation back into lighter territory, "I'm actually not that surprised that you live in one of the poshest places in London."

James hit her in the head with a bit of cod.

* * *

"You're should come out to the show, James," she said, smiling at him as they stepped out onto the street an hour later, "You let me know what night you're free, I'll get you some tickets."

Night had long since fallen, but the summer sun was still hanging on just underneath the horizon, lighting the water of the canal a brilliant orange. The streets were still buzzing with people, surprising for a Tuesday evening, though, she supposed, not too surprising for a London summer. James reached over, a bit tentatively, and took her hand. He smiled warmly at her when she turned her hand in his, wound their fingers together.

"You don't have to get me tickets just to see me again, Evans."

She snorted, "Oh, you think that's why I want to get you tickets?"

He squeezed her hand, smiled cheekily down at her, "Isn't it?"

She bumped him with her hip, "I could see you anytime I wanted."

"Yeah," he said, his eyes moving over her again, "yeah you could, Evans."

She was quiet for a moment, their hands swinging between them, as they walked. She looked around at the street, listened to the snippets of conversation that she caught as people walked by them, focused on the way the slight breeze felt against her skin, but most of her brain was occupied with the man standing beside her, his hand in hers, her body humming with electricity. She hadn't felt like this in a long time, _ever_ really, and she knew that she wanted to do something about it - she just wasn't sure what just yet.

James squeezed her hand, "Penny for your thoughts?"

Lily chuckled, moved over so that she was walking a bit closer to him, their entwined hands occasionally bumping into her thigh, "I was thinking about you, actually."

James quirked an eyebrow, "Oh?"

She shrugged, "Just trying to figure out how we can work around my performance schedule."

James tugged her hand a bit so she stopped walking, backed them up closer to a building so they weren't standing in the middle of the sidewalk like a bunch of prats. He looked down at her, "So you - "

"Want to see you again, yes," she said, moving to stand in front of him, "Assuming you're open to that, of course."

James dropped her hand, moved his hands to her waist, and she smiled, rested her hands on his chest, stepped closer to him until his back hit the brick wall behind them. He brushed his fingers along the hem of her blouse, his gaze flicking between her eyes and her lips. He licked his bottom lip, "I absolutely want to see you again."

She grinned, "Brilliant," moved her hands to his hair, pulled his mouth down to hers.

It was like being doused in freezing cold water while simultaneously being set on fire. Every single piece of her body lit up, was shocked awake, and everything was richer, deeper, more explosive, and she gasped against his lips, deepened the kiss faster than she'd ever done before.

She felt James smiling against her lips as she brushed her tongue along his bottom lip, and she knew he was probably so stupidly proud of himself for already making her this desperate, but she could feel the hard planes of his chest against hers, the rough growth of stubble along his sharp jawline under her hand, the soft hair at the base of his neck under the other, and she didn't care how bloody proud or whatever he was, she just wanted more of him, as much as she could possibly get from him in the middle of this damn street.

James seemed to be thinking along the same lines - he pressed his hands into her hips, pushed off the wall, and spun them, pressing her back into the wall. The brick against her back was still warm from the sun and she could feel it pressing roughly through her shirt, but James had used the advantages of his new position to press his hips against her and nothing else mattered, nothing else at _all,_ and she moaned as he wound his fingers into her hair, kissed her again.

Her hands were up the back of his suit jacket, grasping at the fabric of his shirt, trying desperately to pull him closer, but there were too many barriers between them, too much space, and she wanted every single piece of him against her and she wanted it _now._ She broke the kiss, gasping for air, and James moved his mouth to her jaw, down her neck. His lips were hot and he nipped playfully at her skin, and she was almost ready to just say 'fuck it all, let's go at it right here on the street,' but ultimately deciding that she would like to keep her job, she said, "Your place? Or mine, I don't care. Just," he kissed the sensitive spot under her ear and she groaned, " _now._ "

James smiled against her skin before he pulled back to look at her, "Mine is closer?"

She shrugged, pulled her hands out from the back of his suit jacket, "I don't care where we go, let's just get there."

James walked back across the sidewalk, stepped off the curb and stuck his arm out. Lily laughed, pushed up off the wall, and followed him to the street, "We can take the Underground you rich prick."

James grabbed her hand as a black cab pulled up next to them, leaned down and pressed a lingering kiss to the side of her neck, "I want to get you home as quickly as possible."

Her heart started pounding, he opened the door and let her climb inside. James pulled the door shut behind him, gave the driver his address, and he'd just settled back into his seat when Lily had turned, fisted her hands in his hair, and pulled his mouth to hers.

She vaguely heard the driver say something like "It's £40 if I have to clean bodily fluids out of the car," but she didn't know, didn't care, all she could think about was James' mouth, the way his lips moved purposefully over hers, the way his teeth pressed into her bottom lip just a bit, just enough to drive her completely mad. She moved one hand to the back of his neck, pressed him closer against her, groaned against his lips.

They'd kept it (reasonably) together in the cab, but when they spilled out onto the sidewalk on James' disgustingly posh street, all bets were off. Lily didn't even stop to make sarcastic comments about how James must feel living in such poverty, didn't gawk at the annoyingly gorgeous white houses up and down his street, she just thrust her hands underneath his suit jacket again, and started fumbling with the buttons on James' shirt while he walked her backwards towards his front door. She should have been surprised that he didn't live in a flat, but an entire fucking _house,_ would normally have made at least one joking comment, but his mouth was on her neck the moment James got the door unlocked, their shoes were off, his suit jacket was on the floor, and she absolutely could not be arsed to sass him.

She finally managed to finish all the buttons on his shirt, unfastened his trousers, pulled his shirt out from his waistband and pushed it off his shoulders. James grunted at having to take his hands off her to remove the shirt, and she laughed against his lips. He moved to kiss her neck again, "What's so funny, Evans?"

He moved his hands to the hem of her shirt, pulled it over her head and dropped it onto the floor behind them. His hands moved to her waist, he guided her back though the entry, up the wooden staircase. He tried to kiss her neck again but she laughed, "I'm not trying to die on your stairs, tonight, thanks," turned and started walking up the stairs.

He settled for running his hands over her hips as she walked up the stairs, and as soon as they got to the top, he spun her around, pulled her back up against him, kissed her again. She moaned, even more desperate now, unzipped his trousers, and started pushing them down his hips, taking his pants with them. James sensed the increase in her urgency, moved his hands between them and unbuttoned her jeans.

He moved one hand from her waist to push open a door behind them, pressed her up against something solid, pulled her jeans down her legs. She kicked them off onto the floor and moved her hands to the waistband of her knickers, went to push them down, but James stilled her hands, "Not so fast, Evans."

She groaned in irritation and he smirked, started kissing her neck again, more slowly this time. He pulled her off what she realised was a chest of drawers, led her back to his bed. She climbed up onto it as soon as the back of her thighs hit the mattress, grinning up at him as he crawled up over her. She leaned back so she could see him better, braced her weight on her arms, and he beamed at her, dropped a kiss to her lips, her shoulder, as he moved his hands behind her back, unhooked her bra, and dropped it to the floor behind them.

He pressed a kiss to her collarbone, pushed a hand against her shoulder until she was lying back on his pillows.

"This alright?" He breathed the words into her skin, dropping kisses across her chest. She groaned, "God, yes, just - " he sucked one of her nipples into his mouth and she arched against him, moaned, " _faster,_ please."

He smiled against her, kissed his way slowly, deliberately, down her body, across her chest, stomach, over her hip bones, before he sat up on his heels and put his hands on her hips, his fingers toying with the waistband of her pants again.

"Should I take these off, then?"

She huffed, her chest heaving with anticipation, "For fucks' sake, James - "

He laughed, the sound breathier, rougher than before, and he pulled her pants off, his fingers trailing across her skin as he went. She grabbed him by the shoulders as soon as her knickers hit the floor, but he just laughed again, dropped a chaste kiss to her lips before he moved down, settled himself between her thighs. Her breath caught as he dropped a kiss to the inside of her thigh, "This okay?"

She arched her hips, and he moved one arm to lie across her stomach, pressing her back into the mattress, "Yes or no, Evans." He dropped a kiss to her other thigh, a bit higher this time.

" _James_ \- "

He was smiling when he kissed her again, on top of her hip this time, and she groaned, "Yes, fuck, _please."_

He didn't hesitate to oblige.

He'd slowed things down to get there, but he didn't waste any time once he had his mouth on her. He'd been teasing, but he abandoned all pretense once his tongue was on her clit. He varied pressure, movement until he found what she liked, then he went for it, leaving her gasping, her hands buried in his hair, her hips pressing in vain against him arm.

She was still trembling when he pulled away, and he pressed hurried kisses up her body before kissing her again, moaning into her mouth as she arched into him, wrapped one leg around his hips and pressed him into her.

"Condom," she said, moving her mouth to his jawline, "if you don't have one, I have -"

He shook his head, "Side table," and leaned over, pulled a foil packet from his bedside table. He tore it open, fingers trembling a bit, and slid the condom over himself. Her breathing was embarrassingly loud as he positioned himself over her, but it mingled with his, and she couldn't have found it within herself to care anyway.

He leaned down to kiss her again, the urgency still there, but with a more serious undercurrent that hadn't been there before. He pressed into her, they both groaned, his forehead dropped to hers, and her legs moved immediately around his waist, pulled him into her.

He set a quick, steady pace, changed up the angle of his hips to see what he could do to get her to moan. When he found an angle she liked (she'd sunk her fingertips into his shoulders, moaned so loudly she was glad he didn't have housemates) he stuck with it, moved one hand between them and began brushing his fingers against her clit.

She moaned, " _Fuck_ , faster." He picked up speed, his breathing shallow, rubbing his fingers more insistently against her. "Come on, Evans," he said, his breath was hot against her neck, his hips and fingers picked up speed, and she moaned again, arched into him.

"I'm close, just -" she moaned louder as he swirled his fingers, and he did it again, just a bit more pressure than before, and she came apart again. He moved his hand between them for another moment before he used it to brace himself over her and his forehead fell to her shoulder, " _Fuck_."

She kept moving her hips against his until he stilled completely and he let his weight fall down onto his forearms. He picked his head up from her shoulder, he moved his hand to cup her cheek and he kissed her again, slowly moving his lips against hers. She melted under him, the satisfaction of two orgasms, of his body pressing into hers, of the emotions rushing through her made her smile against him, weave her fingers in his hair.

He pulled back after a moment, flashed her a grin, "I'm gonna go," he gestured towards his groin, and she nodded, "I'll be here."

He rolled off her, padded into the en suite (of course there's an en suite), pulled the door shut behind him, and she stretched out on his mattress. Her muscles felt warm and relaxed, her breathing was slowly returning to normal, but her heart was still hammering in her chest, though it wasn't from any sort of physical exertion anymore. It was the way he'd looked at her, the way his smile felt against her skin, the way he'd laughed so easily with her, _at_ her, the way they'd just clicked. She didn't believe in soulmates, but damn it, if he didn't make her want to.

When he returned a moment later, he collapsed onto the bed beside her, wrapped his arm around her, and pulled her up against his side. She sighed contentedly, buried her nose in his neck, closed her eyes.

"You know," James trailed his fingers slowly up and down her spine, "I reckon I like you a lot, Evans."

Lily lifted her head from his chest, propped her chin up onto her hand, "I reckon I like you a lot, too, Potter."

James beamed, leaned up and kissed her again, softly, seriously, and she smiled against his lips.

"Remus is going to make us feel guilty about skiving off for the rest of our lives - "

Lily laughed, "I didn't skive off, that was all you!"

"And Sirius," James just ignored her, and she sighed, "Sirius is probably going to ask you increasingly embarrassing questions in increasingly public places about your potential BDSM interest until you either die of embarrassment or you out-do him."

Lily snorted, "And why would he do that?"

"Because he's an idiot, and he'll use the fact that you get strapped to a board every night to torture you until you die. He's really doing it because he's grossly protective, but it's also because he's an idiot."

Lily laughed, "He sounds charming."

James rolled his eyes, "He certainly thinks so."

He fell quiet again and Lily looked at him for a moment before she laid her head back on his chest, pressed her nose into the side of his neck. His fingers moved into her hair, started threading slowly through the strands.

"I really do like you, Evans."

She pressed a kiss to his neck, smiled against his skin, "You too, Potter."


End file.
